In many sports, such as football, the contestants should, to prevent injuries, wear protection for the body parts that otherwise is easily injured. In for example football leg protection is an example of such a protection. Other sports where leg protection is being used is handball, field hockey, downhill skiing and protection is also used in trotting. Such protection should have multiple properties. They must be able to absorb strokes an shocks without the underlying body part getting injured. Furthermore they must remain in place in a reliable way, even during the practicing of physical activities.
Example of known protection, of which FIG. 1 shows a cross sectional view through a leg protection for footballers, displaying a deformable protective plate 2, which is shaped after the underlying body part, in this case the leg 4 of a user. This protective plate shall protect against for example strokes and shocks from for example studs of football shoes. Since the protective plate is deformable it is deformed when hit by a kick or another stroke. For preventing that shocks and strokes continues to the underlying body part a sawn on contact layer 6 of a soft material, such as plastic foam, is present on the surface of the protective plate which is facing the body. This contact layer is in use in direct contact with the user's skin. For keeping the protection in place, fastening arrangements 8, such as straps etc., are attached to the protective plate or the contacting layer.
Such known protection has multiple disadvantages. Of these can be mentioned that they are experienced as bulky and heavy, the extend from the leg further which can lead to bad ball handling, due to their higher weight they consume more energy of the user during training or match. Furthermore, they are poorly ventilated, which can lead to irritated skin and skin problems in the long run, such as eczema and bacterial wounds. Ventilation holes in the protection inevitably leads to weakening of the deformable protective plate. Furthermore, the soft material makes the protective plate move around and has a hard time staying properly in place. Due to that the protective plate is deformable it distributes the force of the incoming shock relatively bad and the protection may also rub against the leg.